Regular But Worth Remembering

Thursday night (10/3) was teriyaki chicken, "hot carrots" (sliced to matchsticks with my new from PAL System slicer and sautéed with plenty of butter) and rice.  For once in life I got the chicken marinating early in the afternoon, so cooking it all up was not the epic struggle I usually find dinner-making to be.  

No dinner at home last night because I spontaneously went with Luann and Meg to hear Francis Chan speak in Shin Okubo.  Kids stayed with Shige and ate pizza.  We grabbed some onigiri etc from a convenience store and had a second dinner of "Iranian Curry" back at their place after we decided on an impromptu sleepover.  

Pretty sure the last time--maybe the only time in these six months--we had Mac and cheese was at their house a couple months ago.  I think being there inspired Misaki, she requested the same for dinner tonight.  With no boxes of Kraft on sight, it was not so instant.  I followed a recipe from the How to Cook Everything app.  First I boiled the noodles, then realized we didn't have any cheese.  Stopped everything for a trip to Welcia.  

Got home, was ready to make a bechamel sauce only to slap my forehead again--no milk!! GRR.... Thankfully MIL saved me another trip to the market!  Verdict: pretty bland with that processed shredded white cheese.  A sharp cheddar would have been better.  The girls liked it and I was satisfied too, once I dressed it up as you see here.  Which is to say, loads of chives, hot salt, black pepper and Parmesan.

Taco Slice

Think I've posted this before somewhere, but I always figure if I can't remember, you can't either.  

We had Taco Rice tonight, which is the guts of a taco spread more appealingly than guts on a bed of rice--we prefer short grain white.  Well, when pronounced with Japanesey English flair, it sounds like "Taco Slice".  Aren't you glad it's this and not a jellified terrine of stratified taco ingredients?  Whoa.  Did anyone track with that question?

Our favorite TV show, which is to say, the only one that mostly nearly entertains me and all three kids all at once, is LINE Town.  Yes, it's a show that is based on a texting app, as far as I can tell.  It could be the other way around but I don't know if that would make me feel better.  It's at 6:30 on Wednesdsy nights, so we have a little tradition now.  Every other Wednesday, while we watch, we eat Taco  Slice.  On the alternate Wednesday we have grilled cheese.  

Good to know, right?!!

Cheese Bah--gah

Last Friday I made a mass quantity of hanbaagu, which is something like a meatloaf patty.  Therefore, it's technically not a hamburger, I guess.  Though these days there are infinity versions of hamburgers, so who can know or say which is the TRUE burger? 

Anyway. When I pulled these hanbaagu out of the freezer tonight, I was pretty desperately bored at the thought of serving them with rice and green beans again.  

Fortuitously, my eye fell on a pack of hamburger buns in the freezer and when I asked the kids if they wanted bread, they said yes (technically I don't like bread or want to serve it to my family, most of the time, but my nutritional standards remain in flux).

So I guess this picture looks just as dead boring as my original vision of tonight's dinner, but I tell you: hamburger buns aren't super common here!  You can get them (obviously) but not just in any old store.  

Down the line if and when I have and oven, perhaps I'll try making my own.  Whoa. That might push the excitement right over the edge!

CAULIFLOWER & Oyakodon

Appearance-wise, cauliflower seems to be nothing more than an albino broccoli cousin. I have vivid (perhaps false....? See TED talk by Dr. Loftus) memories of eating raw cauliflower with ranch dressing at any and every First Baptist Church potluck as a child.

 Thankfully, I've since realized that roasted is an infinitely better way to go.  

Alas for me and my love, cauliflower, for we are now separated by the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  The implication that there is ZERO cauliflower is false.  However, what you see pictured was only the second head of fresh cauliflower I've gotten my hands on in these six months.  

Well, and so, rejoice!  Some, even a little teeny bit, is always better than none.  Right?!